Construction of a new headquarters for the Army Ranger Wing (ARW), the Defence Forces’ special operations unit, is to begin later this year at a cost of €46 million.
The headquarters and training compound has been designed around the needs and recommendations of ARW members and will be located in the Defence Forces’ Curragh Camp in Co Kildare.
Citing the sensitivities of the ARW’s operations, officials have been reluctant to go into detail on the specifics of the project and the large costs involved.
However, it is understood the compound will include an advanced tactical training facility, known as a “kill house”, to allow soldiers to train for military operations such as hostage rescue missions.
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The training facility will be outfitted with special safety features, allowing for the use of live ammunition, and will be capable of being configured for different floor plans to match potential operating environments.
The headquarters will also include an operation control room, a vehicle pool, garage and gyms.
The expected price of the headquarters has increased significantly over the past year with the inclusion of more facilities.
Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lt Gen Seán Clancy said the investment “marks an important milestone in the advancement of unique Defence Forces capabilities”.
He said, “Both the training and the operations of the Army Ranger Wing will benefit from this investment and are of huge importance as we move towards the levels of ambition recommended in the Commission on the Defence Forces.”
Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris is to bring a memo to Cabinet outlining the plans later today.
“I’m delighted to announce this significant level of investment in our Army Ranger Wing,” he said.
“This speaks to my commitment to ensuring our Defence Force personnel across all services have fit-for-purpose infrastructure to enable them to carry out their duties.”
The new headquarters and training centre are part of a restructuring of the secretive unit, which is believed to number fewer than 100 personnel.
The ARW is to be renamed Ireland Special Operations Force or IRL-SOF for short.
IRL-SOF will be officially divided into three separate task groups focusing on land, air and maritime operations. Each group will have their own specialised facilities at the new headquarters.
The air and maritime units will also have outposts at Casement Aerodrome in Co Dublin and Haulbowline Naval Base in Co Cork respectively.
IRL-SOF will report to a Directorate of Special Operations which will be based in Defence Forces headquarters.
Efforts to increase the size of the unit are ongoing, in line with a commitment in a 2015 White Paper on Defence to triple its manpower.
There is also a push to recruit additional personnel who can act in support roles, such as drivers and medics. This would free up the most highly trained members of the unit, who are known as “operators”, for frontline roles.
Western military doctrine states there should be up to three “supporters and enablers” for every operator.
Recruitment will be helped by an adjudication in 2023 significantly raising allowances for ARW personnel following a lengthy dispute with the Department of Defence.
